British Joint Forces Command General Says Armed Forces Must Spread “Lies”, Take up the Fight on Social Media

The Armed Forces must be prepared to use Facebook and Twitter to spread “lies” to help fight ISIL, a senior British military commander has said.

Gen Sir Richard Barrons, Commander of Joint Forces Command, said the West is lagging behind Islamic State (Isil), which is tweeting in 23 languages. He said the armed forces must be more prepared to use social media to help achieve strategic objectives in Iraq.

Gen Barrons said:

“If you are fortunate enough to be the commander who is going to run the fight for Mosul, probably the most important thing you want to do as you launch your operation, is to get into the minds of the one million citizens of Mosul through their computers and their mobile phone. And either tell them the truth – it’s going to be a tough day… or tell them a lie, you’ve got to move somewhere else. We’ve been doing that for centuries.”

He added:

“We are dealing with opponents in Isil and Russia who do this for a living. Isil uses Twitter and Facbook in 23 languages. We barely do it in our own.”..